Music at the Crossroads: Interpol comes to Houston this October

If there were an Indie Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, I'm sure it would have a place for veteran rockers Interpol.

Though the quality of their records has faltered of late, Interpol was part of a wave in the early 2000s that helped lift the previously underground New York City indie scene into the foreground.

Now, newcomers MGMT, Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors force them into the backseat.

But back in their heyday, listeners fell in love with Interpol's dark understated rock and their tips of the hat to their early post-punk luminaries in Joy Division.

There was nothing more entrancing in the mid-2000s than that simple, but somehow mind-blowing bass line and Paul Banks's accompanying eerie monotone on "Evil," off the album "Antics."

But on "Our Love to Admire," the band departed from its minimalist charms and composed fleshier arrangements, which the critics did not enjoy so much.

But you can't really place the onus on Interpol for recent critical failure. It's a dog-eat-dog industry where only the fittest survive. If you can't adapt to the ever-changing taste of the consumer, then you're doomed for irrelevance in three to five years, usually about the life cycle of a subgenre these days.

But no doubt, within a few years, Interpol will regain steam. Well-received bands usually enjoy a revival with a reunion tour, a limited-edition, re-release of their most classic album, and a few or more summer music festival appearances (See Sunny Day Real Estate, The Pixies, Soundgarden, etc.).

Maybe it would be a good idea not to wait until then to see Interpol, though. By then, the band would have probably lost its onstage moxie. Their reunion, supposing they breakup, would probably be disingenuous and merely a way to pick up some change - just judging from other bands that have been in that situation, of course.

On Friday, tickets go on sale for the band's Oct. 29 concert in Houston. Find them at livenation.com for $28.